Weekend Trip: Farms and food trails in Kluang, a hidden gem just two hours from Singapore

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JOHOR, Malaysia – When it comes to nearby vacation spots, it is easy to feel like you have seen and done it all.

 

Johor Bahru is but a day trip, you have been to Melaka multiple times, and you are not in the mood for a beach holiday in Desaru and Bintan.

 

Still, there are places a short jaunt from Singapore where you can go off the beaten path.

 

Like Kluang, a small town in Johor that is an easy, two-hour drive across the Causeway, but feels a world away.

 

It is low-rise and laid-back, the sort of small community where everyone seems to know one another.

 

The owner of Kluang Days – a cafe selling various types of hand-brewed coffee on premises that would not look out of place in Singapore’s Haji Lane – is run by the scion of Star Coffee House & Restaurant, one of the town’s notable Chinese restaurants.

 

Two brothers own separate roast meat joints located a street apart. No bad blood here, as both shops draw snaking queues on weekends.

 

Friends in their 40s recall jaunts here in their youth – family trips to a town wedged solidly in the past.

 

But there are new attractions too, such as Talula Hill Farm Resort, opened in 2022 by a Singaporean. With a slew of animal encounters and a cafe supplied with produce from its vegetable patch, it is no surprise that its 16 modern cabins are often booked out on weekends.

 

From food trails to farms, here are my top picks for a weekend in Kluang.

 

1. Soak in a nature retreat at Talula Hill Farm Resort

 

You can easily spend your whole weekend at Talula Hill Farm Resort (talulahill.com), so much is there to do on the 1.4ha plot (approximately the size of 165 four-room Housing Board flats).

 

Wander through the vegetable garden and you might spot resort founder Lynn Tan, 60, nurturing crops such as radishes and ruby corn, their fuchsia and deep purple hues a shock of colour (and antioxidants).

 

The gardening enthusiast used to run a furnishing company and wanted to spend more time in nature when she started planning her retirement eight years ago. She also enjoys the challenge of growing plants not typically found in the tropics.

 

Work takes me to many farms here and abroad, but never have I seen asparagus growing so tall and spindly in the soil, or its ethereal wisps of flowers that resemble dill.

 

Neither have I encountered dragon fruit growing from cactus-like plants or harvested a ripe one.

 

There are only a couple to pluck during my visit in February but come April, with any luck, the farm will have a bountiful fruit harvest, along with white butternut squash that are just becoming sizeable.

 

For the little ones, there are bunnies to pet, ducks to carry and, if you are lucky, one of four resident soft-shelled turtles will emerge, enticed by the evening feeding at the floating pontoon.

 

Goats eat out of my hand, nibbling on a spray of leaves that farm hand Umar Ubaidukkah Osman collects. It is a treat for them, he says. Well, it is a treat for this city girl too.

 

Even if you are not staying at the resort, stop by for a meal at the cafe, where portions are tasty and hearty.

 

Local fare includes ayam penyet (RM38 or S$11.40), well-spiced and fried to a crisp; and roti jala (RM22), or Malaysian net crepes, with chicken curry. For special occasions, the well-marbled wagyu steak (RM158) will not disappoint.

 

Also get the pineapple kale blend (RM18), where local MD2 pineapples are ripe and sweet, with just a hint of tartness so you know the beverage is not from a juice carton. An effortless way to get your veggies in while on vacation.

 

After dark, a communal living room offers movie screenings and board games on loan, and staff get a campfire going on weekends.

 

For city folk, staying here feels like a grown-up version of school camp. It is dark enough at night for you to watch the stars from your cabin’s balcony, and the Wi-Fi signal is strong enough so you can post about it on Instagram.

 

The surroundings feel wild, yet the modern cabins (rates start at RM425) with sparkling clean, if small, bathrooms are cosy enough, so you never feel lacking in creature comforts. Truly the best of both worlds.

 

2. Go farm-hopping

 

Set aside a day for this, starting at Zenxin Organic Park (zenxin.com/park), the largest of the brand’s 33 organic farms across Malaysia.

 

The company exports produce to Singapore and Hong Kong, and you may recognise the rainbow-hued noodles made with pumpkin, spinach or beetroot sold at supermarkets here.

 

Or make your own at a noodle master workshop (RM68), which includes a farm tour and hand-picking your own produce – sweet potato leaves, in my case.

 

You can peer through large windows into the industrial kitchen where noodles are mass-produced, but the workshop is all manual. Blanch, blend and strain the leaves to obtain their extract, knead in flour to make a dough, then flatten the dough with one end of a large wooden pole by bouncing on the other.

 

It feels silly at first, but I learn this is a Chinese technique known as bouncing bamboo noodles, said to give the noodles a springier bite.

 

Like many labour-intensive processes, it is a waning tradition. But the final stage of collecting the delicate green ribbons from a noodle-maker and cooking them to eat on the spot is thoroughly rewarding.

 

If all this is too much trouble to recreate at home, pick up packs of noodles and other organic produce from the gift shop.

 

Visits are by appointment only. The noodle workshop requires a minimum of 15 participants, but other experiences such as a banana explorer workshop, which involves planting a banana tree and baking a banana cake, are available for smaller groups. For more information, go to zenxin.com/park

 

For more animal encounters, head to UK Farm (ukfarm.com.my) or BSL Ecofarm (bslecofarm.com.my). Both have a fairly similar collection, rearing mainly goats with a smattering of other livestock, along with a petting zoo for the kiddos.

 

UK Farm is sprawling, and the RM45 entrance fee includes a 90-minute, open-air bus tour to various enclosures where you can pet and feed animals such as kampung chickens, rabbits, horses and goats. Animal lovers will appreciate the swathes of land that these livestock roam on, if you are content to watch them from afar.

 

The more compact BSL Ecofarm (RM25) is designed for animal interaction.

 

Baby goats suckle milk out of a bottle and most of the animal inhabitants – including goats, cows and deer – will nibble on plant fronds that you can purchase for RM5.

 

You can pet a docile snake or peacock, and even the odd goose will allow itself to be picked up if you are calm enough.

 

But if you do not believe in zoos, you will not appreciate the caged macaques or meerkats kept in a small enclosure.

 

Also sample goat’s milk and yogurt in a variety of flavours. Passion fruit and chocolate are my favourites, both of which counter the milk’s natural gaminess. Prices start at RM7.

 

3. Go on a food trail

 

What is a holiday across the border without some hearty Malaysian fare?

 

I begin by hunting for the best roast meat in town. JinFu Roast Pork and Hai Ji Roast Meat are located a street apart and run separately by a pair of brothers.

 

Both joints offer just char siew and sio bak for takeaway, sold by weight and wrapped in brown paper.

 

Prices start at RM64 for a kilogram, and a minimum order of RM5 is required for a snack-size portion. Belly and jowl cuts cost the same, though the latter is much more tender.

 

Spices are stronger at JinFu (ignore the “temporarily closed” notice on Google Maps as this stall is open every day). At Hai Ji (str.sg/ikDu), the pork is more lightly seasoned. My group of five prefers the former.

 

The meat is so fatty, I can manage only a few pieces. But once they melt in my mouth, they are worth every calorie.

 

For a nice dinner, go to Star Coffee House & Restaurant (str.sg/ikDb), the go-to local wedding caterer.

 

The crispy fried duck (RM58 for half, RM108 for a whole bird) is fork-tender and the Chilean silver cod fish (RM98) is crisply fried and scattered with garlic chips and spring onions. It is more likely to be Chilean sea bass than cod, but no matter, it is delicious.

 

The star at Tangkak Beef (str.sg/ikDR) is the herbal broth (from RM12), where chunks of meat swim. If you enjoy offal, the tripe is good too. Skip the tendon, which could be braised longer.

 

Nearby, dimsum joint Yu Jian Xiao Mian (str.sg/ikDD) gets most of the classics right. Items cost between RM5.90 and RM9.

 

Egg tarts arrive fresh from the oven, their centres still steaming and creamy sweet. The XO carrot cake is shrimpy and spicy; the ribbons of chee cheong fun are silky smooth. And the bolo buns are well worth the half-hour wait, arriving warm and fluffy with a slab of cold butter. Get an extra one for the journey home.

 

Do not leave without a stop at Kluang Coffee Powder Factory (kluangcoffee.com.my), where you can watch the roasting and sorting process on the factory floor.

 

Third-generation owner Goh Yong Kian shows us arabica beans, known for their smooth, mild flavour and robusta beans, which are typically stronger, more bitter and higher in caffeine content.

 

Then, he introduces Liberica beans, which are grown in Malaysia and said to be full-flavoured, aromatic and complex. They are used in some of Kluang Coffee’s blends.

 

Pick up these beans from the gift shop, along with packs of Woo Dang prawn crackers (RM16.90). The snacks come in mala, seaweed and salted egg flavours, but the original flavour is best as it allows the prawn flavour to shine.

 

Travel tips

 

If you are driving, download offline maps for navigation in case mobile data is patchy along the way. Go to str.sg/wjyM for instructions.

 

You will need a Touch ‘n Go card to pay for tolls. They usually cost between $3 and $10, depending on where in Malaysia they are purchased, though they are also available from $17 to $20 via resellers on e-commerce platforms Shopee and Carousell.

 

A one-way bus ticket from Singapore to Kluang is priced from $25 to $30 and the trip takes about 2½ hours. Go to busonlineticket.com

 

If you do not have your own car, get around by Grab in Kluang. Short hops around town should not cost more than RM10.

 

• Weekend Trip is a series that looks at regional destinations through fresh eyes. For more travel stories, go to str.sg/travel

 

 

Source: The Straits Times © Singapore Press Holdings Limited. Reproduced with permission.

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